Spool holders for sewing machines



Aug. 25, 1959 J. PLATT SPOOL HOLDERS FOR SEWING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 12, 1956 INVENTOR WITNESS BY JOhI'I MM @94 W ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1959 J. PLATT SPOOL HOLDERS FOR SEWING mcnmss 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 12, 1956 INVENTOR.

John P/aff BY XTTQRNEY WITNESS 4AM...

Uaie Sees P te T 2 90 2 1.... SPOOL HO SEWING Singer-Manufacturing. Company, Elizabeth, N.J., a cor- H vr t m nta it e whi e t e 1m qhi e,.. riai se,

jarid in an unexposed position when the machine is readied for. transportation, orfor storage.

A ore, specificobjectof this invention is .top roy ide 1 95 p hfi lpm t fq lpe ias, apart of a retractable lifting handle. for a sewing machine frame. p A With the above and other objects and advantages in view as will hereinafter appear, this invention comprises the devices, arrangements andcombinations .of parts hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a1 preferredembodi nentgin which:

Fig. 1 represents a front elevational view of a sewing machine frame. having the spool pinsupport of this invention applied thereto,... I, .s

.Fig. 2 is ,an enlarged top, plan view. of a portion of the sewing machine frame illustrated in Fig.1, and gin;

Fig. 3 represents a cross-sectional view taken substantially along lines 3-3 of Fig. 2, showing in full lines the spool pin in exposed or operative position and in dotted lines the spool pin in unexposed or retracted position.

Referring to the drawings, this invention is illustrated as applied to a sewing machine having a conventional frame including a bed 11, from which rises a hollow standard 12 supporting a hollow bracket-arm 13. The free extremity of the bracket-arm is closed by a face plate 14 and the top of the bracket-arm and standard is closed by a top cover plate 15 secured in place by fastening screws 1616.

Formed transversely of the top cover plate are spaced vertical slots 17--17 and a recess 18 in the front portion between the slots 17 to accommodate a U-shaped lifting and carrying handle 19. The lifting handle is of the type disclosed in the Poets et al. Patent No. 2,678,011, May 11, 1954, to which reference may be had for a more complete disclosure. For the purpose of the present invention it is sufficient to understand that the handle is preferably formed of a single sheet metal stamping bent into a U shape comprising a pair of spaced substantially parallel arm portions 20 and 21 fitted each into one of the cover plate slots 1717 and joined by a hand grip portion 22. The under surface of the top cover plate 15 adjacent each of the slots 17-17 is formed with downwardly extending lugs 23 defining therebetween a bearing into which is seated trunnion pins 2424 fitted one into each of the handle arms 20 and 21. As best illustrated in Fig. 5, a leaf spring 25, secured beneath the top cover as by a fastening screw 26, is arranged to bear upwardly beneath each of the handle arms 20 and 21 for the dual purpose of maintaining the trunnion pins in position between the bearing lugs and also for urging the handle into either a fully opened or fully closed Pai entedAug. 19 59 ice position. When in opened position as illustrated"in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3, the arms 20'and 21 of the handle extend substantially normal to the .top z'cover plate and the. hand grip.po rtionf22 "is disposediih an operativeposition in that it is exposed for use in shifting the sewing machine. When in closed position," the handle is inoperative as a lifting means since it is almost entirely buried into the top coveifplate with the handle armsZ O and 21 being disposed'withinslots 17 '17. and thehandle grip in the recess 18 of the top cover plate;

' The spool pin support of this invention is provided by means of a spool supporting platform 30 formed as an extension of the arm portion 21 o'f'th'e handlepto which platform a spool pin 31 is secured. The platform .30 joins theupper edge 'of the armiportion', considered when the handle is closed'as illustrated in full -lines. "in

.the drawings, and the juncture of the platform with the arm portion 21'is preferably continuous along the'arm portion from a pointinter'mediate the ends of the arm portion to the juncture of the arm portion with the. hand grip portion. The platform 30 is bent outwardly, thatjis in a direction opposite thatjof the other armportionll] of the handle, in substantially a right angle toithejarm portion 21. so thatlwhen the handle .19 is in closed'pos'ition the platform 30 provides a substantially horizontal platform overlying the top cover plate'fr'orn which the spool pin 31 extends'vertically upward as best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. The spool pin 31 is. thus disposed substantially normal to'the U-shaped carrying handle and will occupy an effective spool supporting positionwhen the handle is turned into its inoperative position. .The full line position of the handle 19 in the drawings represents the usual position of the handle durihgoperation of the machine, in which position, the "spool pin31 and its supporting exte'nsionare disposed'in' position to accommodate a spool of needle thread. When-the handle is moved into its opened position, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3, in which it is effective to aid in transportation or bodily movement of the sewing machine, the platform 30 will move to a vertical position and the spool pin will extend rearwardly of the sewing machine in a substantially horizontal position. A coil spring 32 which fits snugly over the spool pin may be used to offer suflicient resistance to the removal of a thread spool from the spool pin so as to minimizethe possibility of a spool of thread slipping accidentally from the spool pin while the machine is being carried by the handle 19.

In addition to its use in carrying the sewing machine, the handle 19 serves as a useful aid in raising and lowering the sewing machine when the machine is housed in a drop-head sewing machine cabinet. Drop-head machine cabinets, i.e., those with provision permitting the shifting of the sewing machine to a lowered position beneath the level of the cabinet top when not in use, are almost universally constructed so that the sewing machine may be tipped forwardly into lowered position. The US. patent of Marsac No. 2,527,319, Oct. 24, 19 50, is illustrative of this type of drop-head cabinet arrangement and may be referred to for a more detailed description thereof.

When a sewing machine is tipped forwardly in a drop head sewing cabinet, clearance between the sewing machine and the cabinet is most critical at the top front edge or corner of the sewing machine. It is for this reason that the conventional locations for the spool pin of a sewing machine are either at the center of the machine frame or at the top rear edge thereof. A spool pin 33 illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings is of the conventional variety, being set into a boss 34 formed at the rear edge of the top cover plate.

It will be apparent that the spool pin arrangement of this invention provides for a more convenient location ofthe spool pin nearer the operator during operation of the machine than is possible with a conventional spool pinfixed inthe machine frame. When the machine is to. be loweredinto a drop head cabinet, shifting of the .h'andle' 19 'to its operative'position will automatically position the spool pin out of the zone of critical clearance between the sewing machine and the cabinet.

The' spool pin arrangement of this invention thus finds futility as the sole spool pin of a single needle sewing machine. In addition, the instant construction is particularly advantageous in instances where two needles are used threaded with different colors or types of thread. In many of the present day family sewing machines a decorative seam may be made having two needle threads simply by providing a pair of closely spaced needles threaded with different threads and both cooperating simultaneously withthe sameloop taker in the formation of stitches.- With this type of two needle work, the spool pin arrangement of this invention provides a highly'satisfactory solutionto the otherwise perplexing problem of how to provide separate spool pins for the two different spools of needle thread. The spool pin 31 of this inven- ,tion is disposed, when in operative position, at the opposire side of the sewing 'machine from' the conventional fixed spool pin of the machine, and therefore, a mini- "o'f interference'will occur between the two thread spools supported thereby, the spool pin 31 does not hamper the usefulnessof the handle 19 in lifting or cartying the sewing machine, and the relationship of the spool pin. 31 and the handle 19 is such that the spool pin will be shifted automatically out of a position of interference when the machine is to be raised or lowered in a drop sewing machine cabinet.

' Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

1. In a sewing machine having a frame, a carrying handle, means for pivoting said carrying handle to said sewing machine frame for turning movement from an upright operative'position to an inoperative position 4 against said sewing machine frame, a spool holder including a spool supporting pin, and means for fixing said spool supporting pin on said handle in an upright position when said handle is turned to said inoperative position.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1 in which the spool 'holder comprises a spool supporting platform, means for securing said platform to said carrying handle, a spool pin a'nd means for securing said spool pin substantially'normal to said platform.

3. The device as set forth in claim 1 in which the carrying handle comprises a U-shaped member including spaced arms pivoted to the sewing machine frame and joined by a hand grip-portion, and in which'the spool holder comprises a spool supporting platform, means for securing said spool supporting platform to one of the arms of the carrying handle, and means for fixing said spool pin on said spool supporting platform substantially normal to the U-shaped carrying handle.

4. In a sewing machine having a frame, a carrying handlev comprising a U-shaped member including spaced arms joined by a hand grip portion, means pivoting said handle to the top of the sewing machine frame for turning movement of the hand grip portion to an inoperative position against the front of the sewing machine frame, a spool supporting pin and means for fixing said spool pin on said handle adjacent the juncture of said hand grip portion with one of said spaced arms and in an up right position adjacent to the front of the sewing machine frame when said handle is turned to said inoperative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

